Nicky Trevorrow had wanted to work with animals since the age of 16, so her role as Cats Protection’s behaviour manager is pretty much her dream job.
Now 37, Nicky is responsible for helping any of the 41,000 cats the charity rehomes every year.
From designing kitty accommodation to analysing their body language, she explains what it’s really like to be a cat therapist – and how you can become one too.
What’s your earliest memory of wanting to work with cats?
I was born into it. I come from generations of cat lovers. By the age of two or three I figured out if I gave a cat biscuits it would follow me around – that came up at my wedding recently.
I had a few career ideas; I wanted to be an artist at the age of ten, but I was on holiday in America when I was 16 and found a book from an American cat behaviourist and thought, “That’s the job for me!”
I worked towards it from then on.
Where did you go from there?
I studied a degree in animal behaviour at Anglia Ruskin University. It
was against everyone’s advice to specifically study ‘animal behaviour’ as they said to do zoology and not to specialise too much.
I was young and stuck to what I wanted to do and it turned out to be perfect for me. There were only six universities doing anything like it.
After my degree, I studied a Postgraduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling at the University of Southampton, which only had 20 places per year.
Most people wanted to become dog behaviourists and only three of us were interested in cats – we found each other on day one.
There was one person who wanted to become a horse behaviourist. I was the token person interested in rabbits.
What training did you do?
We did a project where we went to a local agricultural college and got assigned an animal and there was random stuff in the middle of the lawn to use for training and I went straight for the traffic cone.
My fellow student and I trained the donkey we were assigned to get it to pick up the cone with its mouth. We had four days to train the animal and had to present to the class on the fifth day.
On the final day of training, the donkey refused to cooperate or engage. Finally on the last day, they picked up the cone, which was really exciting.
What do people not know about cats?
Meowing isn’t something cats do in the wild – they learnt it from being with people.
A new owner might not know what a particular meow means, and assume they wants food, but really the cat might be signalling that it wants something else, which is why some cats can end up overweight.
What has been your most interesting cat case?
There are a lot of cat cases that are unusual but one in particular stands out. It was a cat in care that people said had gone crazy or that it could see ghosts as the cat was whipping round to its tail and biting it.
This was because they really didn’t like seeing other cats and, if they did, the cat would get really frustrated and redirect aggression towards its own tail.
Once we ruled out medical reasons, we put a plan in place and moved the cat away from the cat that was bothering it.
As part of the plan, we gave the cat more hiding places, feeding enrichment [more interesting ways of getting food] and mental stimulation.
Isn’t training cats the hardest thing in the world?
It’s certainly not impossible. Any animal can be clicker trained, even reptiles. So you can do the same for a cat.
Dogs tend to be more motivated to be engaged for longer in tasks, but cats can walk off after 30 seconds.
So is it in fact possible to herd cats?!
While it might be possible to train a small group of cats, as a naturally solitary animal they wouldn’t really want to form a herd like sheep would or be around other cats who are not in the same social group as them.
What do people not know about your job?
Some people think I have cats on a couch and I speak to them about their woes but obviously I can’t speak to them, although would be amazing.
It’s more about taking a thorough history, assessing body language and a sound knowledge and experience of cat behaviour.
I cover the whole of the UK and deal with more than 40,000 cats in care, which also involves designing the cats’ accommodation to ensure they’re happy.
I do quite a lot of media work and was once on BBC Breakfast news. We’d done a survey on cat body language and put a video out to show what it means and it had one million hits.
I went up to Manchester and was asked questions live by viewers. A man had a cat who often put its face on his face and he thought it was trying to put its head in his mouth.
I said it was an over-enthusiastic head rub, and suggested using his hand instead.
How does it feel to do your dream job every day?
I’m happy to report it exceeded my expectations and more. I was one of the few people I knew who had a strong idea about what I wanted to do.
Not many people seemed to know much about it so I had to forge my own path, which was quite terrifying. But fortunately I love it. It truly is the best job in the world.
Any advice to other people wanting to do their dream job?
You have to have a hell of a lot of determination and grit. A lot of people told me I would never make it and it would never happen. It’s challenging to keep going but you have to fight for your dreams.
Best thing about your job?
The best thing about being at Cats Protection is being surrounded by other people who love cats. We have a sense of humour about them though and are all experts in cat puns.
Find out more about Cats Protection here
Inspired by Nicky’s job? Here’s how you can get into a career working with animals
Households took on 3.2 million pets in lockdown, and it has created a boom for dog groomers, pet sitters, dog walkers and even pet psychologists.
However, domestic animals are not the only career path for an animal lover.
Start by getting some experience…
The Blue Cross, RSPCA, PDSA, Dogs Trust and Cats Protection all either offer volunteering or part-time jobs. If horses are your thing, approach your local stables. Also try local petting zoos and wildlife parks.
Then get qualified…
Entry level qualifications are a Level 1 or 2 in Animal Care – see your local college or the College of Animal Welfare.
Or do both…
Apprenticeships offer the perfect blend of on-the-job experience and a recognised qualification.
Choose from equine grooming, animal welfare, veterinary care assistant or animal care apprenticeships. Some agricultural/farm apprenticeships will train you to work with cows, sheep or even alpacas.
Take the university challenge…
Some roles – such as vet, veterinary nurse and zoologist – require a degree. Veterinarians complete a five-year degree and entry requirements are high.
Alternative degrees (which do not have such a high academic hurdle) include veterinary nursing, equine behaviour, equine sports science and animal behaviour. Visit ucas.com.
Some degrees will be available through Clearing so you could start this September.
Or work for yourself…
You don’t need any qualifications to start a dog walking or pet-sitting business. Don’t forget to take out insurance. Find out more at narpsuk.co.uk.
What’s the pay?
Although experienced vets can earn £50,000, veterinary nurses earn up to £26,000 and kennel workers, horse grooms and animal care workers start on £12,000 to £13,500.
See nationalcareers.service.gov.uk for more info.
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